Party With The Dead
by Rosella Burgundy
Summary: Hermione Granger is dead. She died to save Draco Malfoy's life before he could confess his feelings and he's determined to have her back. Draco, Harry, and Theo step through the veil in an attempt to find her. They quickly discover that there's nobody better than their dead friends to throw a Halloween party. Will they succeed in bringing Hermione back to life? Rated M sex/language
1. The Promise

**Notes:**

Everything belongs to JK Rowling. I'm just playing with her world.

Thank you to my wonderful beta for her invaluable work. Margaret, you are precious.

Although there's death in this fic, I tried to keep it light. It is a piece for a Halloween Fest after all.

Thank you Strictly Dramione Team for organizing the SD Halloween Fest, special thanks to Claire for creating an amazing cover picture for my fic. 

**Chapter 1: The Promise**

Life is ephemeral like a spring flower. It's born fragile and delicate. At first, there's just a blossom then it grows into a beautiful display of petals, stems and vibrant green leaves, fertile with pollen. It grows strong but remains delicate whereas it can easily be wiped out by a storm or by the unforgiving stomp of a running boot. Life is just like that. In a fleeting moment, unexpectedly, there's nothing left. A Killing Curse, an illness, the wrong potion, an accident, time, they could all claim anybody's last breath. After that, there's only a corpse in a grave, the memory of the living the sole proof that someone really existed. 

A lonely tombstone on top of a gentle hill was all that was left of Hermione Granger.

In her short life, there had been laughter with friends, books in front of a lit fireplace, pages flipped by her warm hand, hot tea, and a cat on her lap. In her almost eighteen years on this earth, there was also war and loss but these as well had rendered her life a miracle worth living.

Her grave had been unquiet since her passing. Many people came and left, day by day. Some visited often and stayed a while to talk to the cold stone, much like Harry. Others couldn't bare more than a glance; Ron was among them. Her parents never went at all, oblivious to the fact that they even had a daughter and maybe it had been for the best.

There had been one wizard who visited her every day though. Each time he brought a red rose for her, picking up the old one and replacing it with a fresh one. Day after day, he walked uphill to the headstone. Today was no different.

The wind lashed at his black cloak and the autumn rain dampened his blond hair. His grey eyes were fixed upon the cold marble of the tomb, just where her name had been carved in. He knew that gravestone by heart. He knew every little imperfection on the smooth surface of the white slab. He recognized the little chip that had broken off the top of it when he had aimed his wand at it, cursing at the sky in a vain attempt to deal with his grief. He gazed at the blood stain that could not be washed away on the base, where his fist had met the hard surface in anger. He observed the little enchanted bluebell flames that forever danced around her name. He never spoke with her anymore. In the beginning, he had spent hours on end yelling, crying or simply whispering to her, but the one-way conversation had quickly grown heavy on his heart.

He picked up yesterday's rose and placed a new one on the wet grass. The wizard gently touched the cold, slippery granite and turned. His eyes narrowed as he saw another wizard standing in the unforgiving rain.

His face was half hidden by the neck of his coat, pulled up to protect him from the wind, but Draco would recognize those crooked old glasses everywhere.

"How long have you been staring at my arse, Potter?"

"Since third year at least," Harry chuckled as he walked uphill to meet him.

Draco scowled at him for the inappropriate behaviour on a grave site.

They shook hands and briefly exchanged greetings; then they both turned to the stone, observing it for a long minute.

"I still can't believe she died to save my life." The tallest wizard hissed.

"I can hardly believe you've been friends since fourth year. I do understand why she did it though." Harry sniffled and adjusted his glasses. After an initial denial, Harry had accepted that his best friend was gone.

"For that matter, I still can't make sense of the fact that you and I are friends, Potter."

"True that!"

They then stood there in silence, replaying long lost memories in their minds.

Draco turned his gaze to Harry, his face contracted in a fierce and determined mask. "I need to know why. I'll find a way to bring her back, I swear."

Harry met his eyes, the cold green of his irises softened at the thought of having his best friend back, but he knew it was impossible. "She would want you to live your life fully. Don't waste it trying something impossible."

Draco's hands balled in fists at his sides. He was ready to curse at Harry and ask him how he could be okay with Granger being dead, but he just silently stood there.

"Are you familiar with the Deathly Hallows?" Harry asked, continuing after Malfoy nodded, "The resurrection stone was in my possession once. Death's very stone. It didn't really bring back anybody. If that didn't work, nothing can. Live and cherish the gift Hermione bestowed onto you, Draco. She wouldn't want us to miss out on life for her."

Draco's head started spinning as he thought of all the rituals he could have tried with Death's stone. He grabbed Harry's arm, perhaps a little too harshly and he looked straight into his emerald eyes. "Where is it?"

Grimacing at the fingers digging into his cloak and flesh, Harry put his own hand on Draco's, trying to break free. "I lost it. It never worked mate."

Draco shook his head, a little dizzy because of all the machiavellian thinking and he began descending the hill with long unstable strides. "I'll see you at work." That was all he whispered to Harry.

* * *

Harry took off his glasses, stroking the bridge of his nose where his spectacles always dug little indentations. He sighed and wondered if the Ministry kept a vial of Liquid Luck in stock that he could steal.

His day had begun in the worst way possible.

His alarm hadn't gone off so he arrived at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement fifteen minutes late, deserving the reprimanding look from Robards. The young Auror had to go to Knockturn Alley to break up a pub brawl and was punched in the guts by one of the wizards involved. On his way back he had stopped at a coffee shop to get the caffeine he had been longing for since he woke up, but he tripped over the carpet at the very front step of the shop and spilt his cup all over his white Oxford shirt, burning his skin in the process. Thank Merlin for rapid cleaning magic and healing potions but still, it hurt.

On top of it all, Harry's mind was filled with gloomy memories since it was Halloween and the anniversary of his parents' death. It was always a difficult holiday for him.

A knock on his door snapped him out of his misery.

"Hey there, lunch date? I have goodies." A flirty voice proposed. A tall lanky wizard with dark brown slicked back hair smiled at him from the threshold.

Harry cocked his head, confused, putting his glasses back on and focussing on the man's face. There was nothing familiar about it. "Who are you?" He heard some swearing then and the wizard was brusquely pushed inside his office, followed by a very annoyed Draco Malfoy.

"Potter, this is Theodore Nott."

"Call me Theo." He specified taking a seat in front of Harry and smirking at him.

Harry recalled the name of the Slytherin boy from school mainly because of his Death Eater father.

"I brought you lunch. We need to talk." Draco went straight to the point, tossing three ham and cheese sandwiches on the desk. With a wand wave, he closed the door, locking it.

"Not a good time, mate." Harry would have liked to relax a little during his lunch break.

"Hey, it's now or never, sweetheart. My friend's school crush is coming back to life." Theo explained wiggling his eyebrows.

Harry's eyes widened, even more bewildered.

"Nott, stop with the fucking flirting. It's creepy," Draco curled his lips in disgust and finished, looking at Harry, "We need to go through the veil."

Harry's jaw fell open, he was getting more perplexed by the second. He couldn't follow. "I haven't had a single coffee yet today so cut me some slack here, but what the hell are you two talking about?"

Draco's lips parted to speak, but he stuck his tongue to the corner of his mouth, forcing himself not to voice what he really thought about Harry's mental abilities, coffee or not. He inhaled sharply from his nose and offered some more details, recalling all the good reasons why he became friends with the Auror in the first place.

The most important among those reasons was that Harry had always been helplessly loyal to Hermione.

"We are getting Granger back! We must cross the veil barrier."

Harry scratched his head and Theo crossed his arms, leaning back in the chair and assuming a bored stance. "I thought we agreed to let her go, Draco. All these years and you are still trying to find a way." Harry shook his head.

Theo grabbed one of the sandwiches, biting off a big chunk while Malfoy gave him an unapologetic shrug.

"Nobody can go into the Death Chamber aside from a few selected Unspeakables. Especially after Sirius…" Harry trailed off, remembering the way his godfather had died until Theo waved a hand in front of his face, bringing him back into his office. "Anyway, they bumped up the security measures. There's no way. Not even I, as an Auror, possess such clearance."

"It has to be tonight. Nobody but a few guards will be in here." Draco was fidgeting with his family ring, getting more agitated by the second.

"It's very very illegal to enter the Ministry at night with people that don't work here, the wards are-"

"Always the righteous Potter. Let loose for once." Theo interrupted.

"You don't know me!" Harry snapped back.

"You are Harry fucking Potter, everybody knows you. And I had a crush on you back at Hogwarts."

Draco growled at the red tinge in Harry's face, he was getting very uncomfortable.

"Listen. There's a full moon tonight. We have a three-day window between Halloween and the Day of the Dead to get her out."

Harry sighed and leaned back in his chair, adjusting his glasses, pushing them up his nose. "We'll die if we go through the veil."

"Not tonight, Potter. Not if we carry these." Draco tossed three charcoal coloured round stones in front of Harry. A sequence of runes was carved into their surfaces.

Harry took one of them and spun it in his palm. Suddenly he felt a rush in his veins, perceiving the power of that runic inscription. He pondered about it for a while, deciding that he needed to trust Malfoy on this one.

They had been working together for years at the Ministry and he had proved to be a good friend.

Furthermore, he was sure that Draco had always been in love with Hermione and he would have done anything to get her back. "How are you planning on bringing her back to life?" He demanded.

"Don't underestimate the power of runes. You should have paid more attention in school, Potter." Draco showed him another stone, ivory this time. His fingers were wrapped around it but it was enchanted so that nobody could directly touch it.

"Why is he here?" Harry pointed at Theo, who smirked at him.

"He's the one who helped me sort out a way to enchant these stones. His family origins go straight back to the Norse druids and his knowledge on runes is unmatched."

"Viking power and sex appeal…you should have seen me during the ritual, all naked and covered in dragon blood. You would have liked it." Theo winked and Draco scoffed.

"Potter, we will stay after work. I'm sure we both can pretend to be putting in some extra time. Theo will hide in my office. Let's meet at the Department of Mysteries at seven. By then the Ministry will be deserted."


	2. Beyond The Veil

**Notes** :

Thank you for reading, following and reviewing this story. Warning: there's smut in this chapter.

 **Chapter 2: Beyond the Veil**

The veil was exactly like Harry remembered it. The black drape hung from a crooked archway in the middle of a raised platform in the Death Chamber at the Department of Mysteries. The curtain moved as if lulled by an invisible wind.

The boy-who-lived could hear the hushed voices of the dead whispering from the other side.

The words came through distorted and muffled and he wondered if one of those voices was Hermione yelling at them not to be foolish and warning them not to cross. He smiled thinking of the extensive research she would have immersed herself in before a task so grand and he secretly agreed that it was indeed idiotic to cross the veil like this, trusting Malfoy and his runic stones. Nonetheless, he squeezed the black pebble in his hand and stepped closer to the veil. A rapid glance at Malfoy found him with a look of pure determination sculpted in his aristocratic features.

Draco was the first one to step through the veil, he felt a small shiver as he felt the cold ethereal shade stroking his face. The stone in his palms vibrated and sent a wave of hot electricity through the veins of his arm that travelled right to his heart. He contemplated the idea of dying and he wondered if it would feel the same. He wasn't sure what he expected to find on the other side. He had imagined a bright cloud or a light at the end of a white tunnel; something cathartic.

What appeared in front of his eyes was nothing like he could have ever fathom.

He heard two distinct gasps as Harry and Theo stepped in beside him and took in the view.

A vast landscape of hills and valleys extended all around them. The slopes offered room for a spooky graveyard with old tombstones covered in dried up vines and mausoleums with crumbling walls. The atmosphere was impregnated with an everlasting twilight. The setting sun was not red and fiery but emerald and dull. The green rays tinged the air of a gloomy viridescent dusk. On a hilltop stood an ancient gothic construction that was something between a manor and a medieval castle. The central body resembled Malfoy Manor but there were two lopsided towers on each size. The dark stone stood out in the green surroundings.

"Will bats and ghosts start coming at us screeching? Will zombies dig themselves out of the ground?" Theo meant to sound funny but his words came out with a shaky breath, voicing everybody's concerns.

Draco gulped and scanned the place for any danger, wand in hand.

"Should we walk to the manor?" Harry suggested, unsure of how to proceed, also looking frantically left and right and behind him, wand aimed at nothing.

A series of creepy sounds had them jumping on the spot; roaring and growling in the distance and fast approaching; leaves creaking and twigs snapping from somewhere in the graveyard, just to the other side of the veil arch. Howling and commotion filled the air and four animals stumbled in front of them, rolling snarling jumping and attacking each other.

Harry's face opened up in a smile of joy as he recognized the stag, the dog, the rat, and the wolf.

Draco and Theo lowered their wand when they saw Harry relaxing.

The four animals stopped and started shifting their form into four young men.

"Dad! Sirius! Remus!" Harry said in a whisper.

A series of hugs and 'look at you', 'you are a grown man', 'werewolves can turn at will after they die', 'Peter made it up to us' filled the air.

"Harry, your mother will be so happy to see you! My boy is dead though, I shouldn't be this happy!" James considered but quickly shrugged.

"Dad I'm alive, I'm just visiting."

The Marauders started laughing and gazed at each other, having a silent conversation and exchanging smirks of understanding.

"Denial is the first step in death. You'll get over it soon. Who are your friends over there?" James squinted toward Draco and Theo, adjusting his spectacles with the same gesture Harry carried out many times a day.

"The tall one is Malfoy's spawn." Lupin nodded toward Draco.

"My cousin Cissy's son?" Sirius barked, "How are mommy and daddy? I owe dear Lucille a punch."

"In Azkaban." Draco quickly put the matter aside. "This is Theo Nott."

"I hope your dad is there too." Remus was rather hostile.

"I would have killed him myself otherwise. I hated him, especially during the war."

Harry cocked an eyebrow, he did remember Nott promised his son to the Dark Lord during his ascension at the Triwizard Tournament. Theo must have refused.

"Come along. Your mother is at Death Manor," James put an arm around his son's shoulders and guided him toward the gothic house.

"How's my son?" Lupin was curious.

"Teddy is fine. He drives Andromeda crazy but he's happy."

"Excellent. Tonks will want to hear about him."

Draco cleared his throat, quickly tailing behind the Marauders. "Is Hermione Granger at the manor?" Draco was eager to find her.

James' smile was encouraging, "Oh Hermione, she's so nice. She told us so many things about you, my son. Now tell your daddy, did you use your wand on her?"

"Dad! No!" Harry blushed violently and fumbled with his glasses.

"Gross. Is that what you called it in your era?" Theo made a face.

"James, your son is with the Weasley girl remember? Fred's sister? Fabian and Gideon's niece?" Lupin reminded him.

"Oh yeah," James remembered.

"We are not together anymore," Harry explained.

"IS SHE THERE?" Draco had enough of this nonsense.

"Merlin! You are my cousins Cissy's son. Irascible Black through and through! I like you lad." Sirius laughed.

"She is, Malfoy. Are you the one that used the wand on her?" They all laughed with James this time.

The reunion was quite emotional. Everybody was there. Lily, Fred, Colin, Nymphadora, Moody, Abraxas Malfoy, Snape, and Dumbledore who spent quite a long time straightening things up with Draco. Everyone was cheerful until a witch with dark bushy hair appeared at the top of the grand staircase running and screaming and crying.

"She has finally lost her brain in the library!" Fred stated triumphantly. "You owe me ten Galleons, Fabian."

"Gideon was the one that bet on next year! I bet on last year!" One of the Prewett twins complained.

"Wicked, then you both owe me ten Galleons each, dear uncles." Fred extended a hand, palm up waiting for his payment.

Hermione finally descended the stairs, sobbing. "No! No! No. This can't be real!" Hermione hugged her best friend tightly and looked at Draco beyond Harry's shoulder, shaking her head. She was exactly like he remembered her. Crazy chocolate curls, big amber eyes, although they were now watery, straight little nose with the tip curled up, full lips that he had longed to kiss for ages. The green hues of the air gave her complexion a sparkle that made her even more stunning. She was wearing a simple knee-length black dress with thin straps and a deep cleavage opening. When Harry let go of her Hermione didn't approach the blond wizard, she just kept staring at him, pursed lips and a frown on her forehead.

Sensing the awkward moment Theo did what he did best. He defused, "Is there any bloody alcohol in this gloomy manor?"

Sirius barked a laugh and pat Theo's shoulder. "You bet, lad."

"Tonight we celebrate. It's Halloween and there's nobody better than the dead to set up a party!" James announced, moving his hips in a silly dance on silent notes.

"It's also our death anniversary!" Lily joined in the awkward dance.

The celebrations were nothing like Harry, Theo, and Draco had ever seen in the living world. They attended some wild parties but never like this one. There were literal rivers of alcohol flowing through the floor of the ballroom, all people had to do to drink was to dip their glass in the moving liquid and gulp it down. There was a stream of butterbeer, a creek of firewhisky, a pond of mead and a river of something called the death-juice.

Draco and Harry decided to steer clear of the brown liquid but Theo gladly tried it and he said it tasted like gin, but earthier.

The ceiling had been enchanted to resemble the vault of a large cave, carved pumpkins were floating and singing, bats were flying all over.

The guests were all dressed up in costumes; most of them were wearing a sheet and wished they could be real ghosts and haunt the living.

There were skeletons, real ones, prancing around and drinking cocktails that just sloshed through their bones and pooled on the ground.

Hermione kept avoiding Malfoy but he was fine with it, for now. He was over the moon they had found her so easily and he had more than forty-eight hours to cross the veil back to the living world with her on his arm.

Theo and Draco just enjoyed the party and Sirius' drinking games. He found out that his renegade long lost cousin was a fun wizard to be around.

His grandfather Abraxas had other ideas but nonetheless, he partook in the celebration, reconnecting with his grandson.

Hermione pulled Harry aside and drilled him with questions.

He assured her none of them had died and he showed her his black runic stone.

"Is this a life token?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure. Malfoy just gave it to me and told me it would allow me to travel back and forth between the worlds of the living and the dead."

"Excuse me, Harry? You just followed Malfoy to death without researching these runes?" She crossed her arms, scowling at her careless best friend.

Harry's face lit up in a huge smile. "I missed you, Hermione! I missed your knowledge and intelligence. I missed the way you get cross. I could have never survived the war without you."

"Clearly. You didn't survive five years without me in fact." She snapped.

Harry chuckled and promised her again that he was very much alive, putting her hand over his beating heart.

She flinched as she felt the life flattering under her palm.

"There's more. Malfoy has another stone, a weird iridescent ivory pebble with runic inscriptions and it can bring you back to life."

Hermione gasped. "Nothing can do that. You know it better than anyone. The resurrection stone itself only brought back shadows. How is that possible?"

"Ask Draco." Harry simply suggested and she stomped her foot, crossing her arms.

"Fine." She huffed, glancing around the room looking for a blond head that in the dead world shone with viridescent hues. She was unsure how to approach him. Last time she saw him she was dying in his arms. She had missed him terribly and she didn't know how to begin a conversation with him. She drank many glasses of mead while she looked for Draco and by the time she spotted him she was drunk and her worries were gone.

He approached her before she did and he pulled her on the dance floor where he was hopping around with Theo and the Marauders. He must have ditched his suit jacket somewhere because he was wearing only his Oxford shirt, sleeves pulled up, revealing the fading Dark Mark.

Harry had joined his parents as well and they were swaying in a tight embrace to the rhythm of the pumpkins music.

Hermione abandoned herself to the music and tangled her limbs around Draco's body with some dirty moves. She pressed her hips against his and rubbed herself all over him.

He was also quite intoxicated and he responded to her moves with pleasure, stroking her waist and back and pulling her close to his chest just to breath in her almond scent that he had missed so much. "Can I talk to you?" he whispered in her ear.

"Let's get out of here." She pulled him away from the jolly crowd and she led him out of the manor.

They walked the graveyard in silence hand in hand.

Draco couldn't take his eyes off of her until they reached the top of a hill and his gaze was captured by the valley that appeared below them.

It was pitchy. It looked like a black hole. It wasn't just dark but it had no consistency, it looked like it was made of dark matter, the only movements were sparks of crackling electricity.

"What's down there in the dark area?"

Hermione shuddered and pulled him back a little. "The Forgottens live there. Don't ever enter that valley. They'll feed off your dead bones. Literally."

Draco glanced at her sideways. "The Forgottens?"

"We still have a solid shape because we have people that remember us in the living world. When the last one of the living that keep us in their memory dies, we will also become Forgotten. I've never seen one but they are angry spirits. Anyone who has encountered them and was lucky enough to escape them said they look a little like Inferi," She explained.

"Well let's keep walking in the other direction then," Draco suggested, wrapping his arm around her waist.

She smiled and led him through the tombstones and to an old mausoleum.

The name on the arch read Bathilda Bagshot . She wiggled away from him and entered the tomb, making herself as comfortable as she could on the stone sarcophagus.

Draco stopped at the threshold. "Are you stalking your favourite author in the afterlife, Granger?" Draco joked, recalling a young Hermione in the library, reading the same book over and over.

"Bathilda keeps her own handwritten copy of Hogwarts: a History right in here," Hermione confessed patting the stone below her, a faint pink tinge would have spread on her cheeks if she were alive. "She lives at the manor though." Hermione quickly reassured Draco, noticing his face got greener for a moment.

An awkward silence stretched between them until Hermione sighed.

"You shouldn't be here, all of you." She had meant to say it since she saw him.

"I'm here to take you back. You should thank me instead of complaining." Draco snapped back, straightening his back and taking a few steps toward her.

"You are risking your life. The same life I died to protect. You had no right to come here!" Hermione was upset and she jumped off her seat, not knowing what to do with herself.

"I have the right to know why you did something so stupid as saving a Malfoy in the first place!" His face was a mask of anger and pain as he looked at Hermione pacing in front of him.

"My life, my decision." She narrowed her eyes at him, stopping her march. She leaned against the wall, hoping the cold stone would keep her head clear from the turmoil she was feeling in every bit of her flesh. She had reacted on instinct when she saw Bellatrix aiming her wand at Draco's chest. She had jumped in front of him, taking the curse that was meant to kill him. She had no regrets for saving him although she had never forgotten the horror that had twirled in Draco's silvery eyes.

His beautiful eyes were her last memory and she'd cherished it like a precious treasure.

"Why, Hermione? Why did you do it? I know you would die for your friends because that's just so Gryffindor of you but for me? I don't deserve it!" He was livid, moving his hands frantically around him to mark each of his words.

"What?" She snapped.

"My life was not worth yours Hermione!"

"You have no idea how much you are worth to me!" Hermione was on the verge of crying, she couldn't believe he felt so undeserving of salvation. He was worthy and he needed to know that.

"Why the fuck did you save me?" He finally shouted.

"Because I love you Draco!" Her words came broken by her sobs but clear as a summer sky.

He froze; his hands closed in fists. It took him two heartbeats to react. At the first, he inhaled. At the second, he erased the distance between them with two long strides and crushed his lips on hers, trapping her betwixt the cold stone and his body.

His fingers quickly got lost in her curls as he grasped her hair, her lips tasted like strawberries and mead.

She gasped in his mouth, both surprised and elated, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Had her heart been alive it would have been beating itself right out of her rib cage.

She began playing with his hair, enjoying the shivers that his ticklishly soft locks sent through her body. She abandoned herself to his fervent kiss.

He ravishingly nipped and tugged at her lips until he stuck his tongue in between them with force, parting them and tasting her inside. He grazed her palate and he span her tongue into a feverish dance.

They were both panting, their chests heaving and touching at every ragged inhale.

Hermione pulled away briefly to take a breath, even if her body didn't need it but she wanted to see his face.

His eyes were smouldering pools of liquid mercury and his cheeks were flushed. His hair was wild on his head where her hands had played with it.

Draco licked his lips at the sight of her ravished mouth and she couldn't keep herself from moaning. He looked dishevelled and completely out of control and she loved it.

She began unsnapping the buttons of his shirt but he grabbed her wrists and pulled her arms above her head.

"I could have made you mine so many years ago." He hissed out, still enraged.

Hermione felt a rush of life in her dead veins. Her heart was fluttering in her chest and she felt her blood creeping up on the skin of her limbs.

His words had awakened a hunger she thought she could never feel again.

She freed her hands from his grip and she ripped off the rest of his shirt buttons. She impatiently tugged at his belt and huffed when she couldn't get rid of it.

Draco took her hands away from him once more and finished what she had started. He pulled down his trousers and pants in one quick movement letting them pool at his feet. His hands got ahold of the straps of her dress and slid them off her shoulders, leaving her in a lacy strapless bra and knickers.

The sight of the jagged scar on her chest renewed his anger. The image of her bleeding to death in his arms caused him to snarl and it spread a sense of urgency in his groin so he wasted no time and he unclipped her bra with one hand, sliding under the fabric with the other and getting rid of it.

A groan escaped her mouth when he took a nipple between his fingers, twisting it.

He answered with a growl and his mouth immediately possessed the other nipple, sucking and biting. He slowly bit his way up to her neck, leaving a trail of saliva and teeth marks that felt like fire on Hermione's cold skin. He pressed himself against her, letting her feel the hardness of his cock.

His hand abandoned her breast, leaving her with a disappointing tingling sensation, her breasts wanted more.

Draco smirked at the sight of the pout on her lips but he was not going to leave her unsatisfied, he had left her mounds just to slide down her stomach and reach the edge of her knickers. Draco relished the way she was quivering against his body. Sliding in, he felt the slick wetness of her slit. He met the discovery with a low groan.

Hermione's hands reached between them and begun stroking his hard length, pulling up, circling around the top, and back down.

They were both impatient and hurried in their movements. They felt the rush and the passion of the first time, that could very well also be their last one, since they had no idea what the future entailed or if there was a future at all.

Hermione stopped pumping Draco's cock and in a swift movement she moved his hand out of her knickers and leaned forward to get rid of them. Her eyes met his cock for the first time and she couldn't help kneeling down to take him in her mouth, tasting every centimetre of his long shaft. It was smooth and thick in her throat.

Draco grabbed her hair and thrust in her mouth deeply groaning and enjoying her moans and throaty sounds, then he pulled her up, trapping her between the cold stone wall and his warm body.

She quickly leapt up and wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling the tip of his cock at her entrance.

Draco grabbed her arse cheeks and squeezed her closer. She ground herself against him slowly, worshipping every inch of him with her bud.

Unable to wait any longer she whispered in his ear. "I need you, Draco."

He entered her at the same time as their lips met.

She mewled with his lower lip between her teeth as he pushed inside her deep hard and fast.

The cold stone was harsh against her back but she didn't care, she was content with the feeling of bliss that was spiralling inside her with every thrust.

Draco interrupted their kiss to observe the way pleasure was disheveling her features.

She was flushed and sweaty and her swollen lips were parted to let out whines of satisfaction. One of her hands reached down between them and stroked her clit, allowing her to come undone around him.

The powerful contractions of her core sent him over the edge. Draco's head collapsed on her shoulder and he came with a loud groan against her neck.

They stayed like that for a while, taking deep breaths and enjoying the aftertaste of the powerful orgasms they just reached.

When he pulled out of her Hermione saw a troubled look on his face. She chewed on her lip, worried herself that something was wrong and that he could just regret what they had done and run away from her but he didn't move.

He leaned in, resting his forehead on hers and he inhaled sharply. He kissed her again, more softly this time.

She felt him smile on her lips.

"Sorry. Not what I imagined for our first time."

She chuckled, relieved. "Isn't every dead girl's dream to shag in a mausoleum?" She joked.

He smirked at her, one corner of his mouth slightly higher than the other. "I love you too." He whispered, stroking her cheek.

Repairing his shirt and redressing took longer than magic would have required. They often interrupted each other with kisses and hugs. By the time they got back to the party, everybody had reached a blissful level of drunkenness, especially Nott.

Theo was singing out of tune and dancing on a table, swinging to and fro next to a very embarrassed Harry. "There's the soon to be alive again Hermione! Behold the power of the runic stones of resurrection!" He shouted the second he saw Draco and Hermione walking in the ballroom. His black runic stone was in his palm for everyone to see.

Everybody froze.

Draco leapt forward and grabbed Theo by his ankle, flattening him on the table and quickly hiding the rune. "Get down Theo. Shut up!"

Talking about a way of going back to the living world in a crowd of dead people was not a good idea.

"You just had sex." He giggled between two hiccups, taking in his friend's scruffy appearance, totally not concerned of the many ears that turned his way.

The crowd immerse themselves in dancing again, deeming the runes to be just part of Theo's costume.

Unfortunately, nobody had noticed a hooded figure wrapped in a black cloak and wearing a strange golden mask that had flinched at the sight of the runes, quickly leaving the party.


	3. Death

**Notes:**

This is the last chapter, Thank you for bearing with me. I hope you had a good Halloween, Dia de Los Muertos, All Saints Day, whatever you might have celebrated. I appreciate your feedback. Thank you! I repeat it: I own nothing, JK Rowling is the boss.

 **Chapter 3** **: Death**

On the first day of November, the morning after the party, when everybody was still sleeping off their hangover, Hermione snuck out of her bed, leaving Draco there, naked and glorious, and she started her research in the manor library.

It was silly to divide the day and define the early hours as morning since they lived in a perpetual green twilight but every dead person was reluctant to abandon this old habit.

The library had been charmed to hold endless shelvings filled with every book ever written by magical authors and it was, needless to say, Hermione's personal heaven.

She began researching the runes she had memorized from Harry's stone. She quickly filled two rolls of parchment and begun a third.

"This has got to be all you ever wanted for your afterlife. A library to rival Hogwarts where you can spend eternity being a bookworm," Draco declared, leaning on the door frame. Apparently, the wizard was of the same opinion.

"Shut up Draco. I'm researching your foolish plan." She explained after the initial surprise of seeing him there.

"Why don't you just trust me? Just walk through the veil with me." Draco sat beside her, eyeing the ancient and frail looking tome in front of her.

"It can't be that easy. People would be coming back from the dead all the time if all it took was enchanting a stone." She shook her head at her parchment.

"Easy?" He scoffed. "You have no idea what I had to do to find those stones, and the ritual to engrave the runes into them...let's just say it involved a lot of danger and some dragon hunting."

There were no dragons in the realm of the dead, Hermione realised, so no, even if it were easy, no dead person could have hunted a dragon.

"Going back to life can't be as simple as holding a stone and crossing the veil! Moreover, there are many people that deserve a second chance at life more than me." She was still sceptical.

"Listen, I haven't spent the last five years of my life researching every book of every known magical and Muggle library in the world for nothing. I did it for you and you alone. On top of everything, I had to deal with Theo the entire time." He snickered at his last sentence.

"He's a little-" Hermione begun, giggling.

"Obnoxious, yes but he's a good friend." He interrupted her. "After the war, he was all alone, much like me and I took him in."

Hermione wanted to tell Draco that he was a good man and he did deserve redemption and saving from his actions during the war. "Which libraries did you go to?" She asked instead, not sure he'd like to talk about his family's involvement with Voldemort.

"All of them, I'm not kidding. However, the most impressive ones were Hogwarts, obviously, the Ministry Archives, Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, Ilvermorny, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, the Vatican-"

"You had access to the Vatican Secret Archives? How?" Hermione had always wanted to go to Rome and study the ancient scripts that were kept behind the Vatican walls, concealed from the world. Even if she wasn't sure about the existence of a single god, she had always been curious to find out if religion and magic were somehow related.

"I had to pull some strings and use one or two Unforgivable Curses to convince people to let me in."

"I'm not even going to comment on that." She briskly hissed.

He smirked at her and kissed her, taking the quill and parchment out of her hands.

She quickly grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer, leaving his mouth to nip at his neck.

"I didn't know a dead person could be so hungry." He murmured in her ear.

She chuckled but she could never show him how hungry for him she was.

An explosion shattered the windows in the library.

Draco wrapped Hermione in his arms, protecting her from the glass shards that flew their way.

She quickly untangled herself from him, scolding him for trying to protect a dead girl and suggesting him to think about his own safety.

"A simple 'Thank you, love' would have sufficed." He retorted.

They both extracted their wands and hurried out of the library.

People were scurrying and shouting, trying to dodge debris that had fallen from the ceiling. The air was filled with dust.

Hermione ran until she found Sirius, who was also hastening, wand clasped in his hand.

"What's going on?" Hermione wanted to know.

"The Forgottens are attacking the manor! They're swarming the place. The explosion destroyed the main entrance. We are gathering everybody to fend them off."

"Have you seen Harry and Theo?" Draco asked.

Sirius shook his head and disappeared down the corridor.

"You need to find them and hide," Hermione commanded.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight. You said those things feed on the dead. You're not going anywhere near them!"

"Draco, there's no time to argue. Just go!"

Draco opened his mouth to disagree but a Forgotten monster suddenly appeared from the green dust behind Hermione.

The beast had indeed a resemblance with an Inferius but it was somehow made of black smoke. Its eyes nose and mouth were hollow, filled with the green light that dwelled in the afterworld. The Forgotten opened his mouth and with an ear-piercing screech it spat out a beam of light. It looked like a lightning web against a dark cloud.

Draco grabbed Hermione and shoved her out of the beam's trajectory.

Still mid air, she aimed her wand at the creature and shouted, "Confringo!"

The Forgotten shattered in a million black smoke shards and disappeared with a hiss.

They landed hard on the stone floor and Draco immediately felt a burning sting in his chest. He had been struck by the electric shock. He could feel his veins getting filled with cold blood. Frost was tingling in his chest and spreading inside him

"Draco!" Hermione looked at his burnt shirt in horror. She unbuttoned it and inspected the wound.

His skin was black where the lightning had entered his body, just above his heart.

"I'm fine," Draco reassured her, getting up to standing on wobbly legs and pulling her upward with him. Although he was in pain there was no time to waste. He performed a quick Healing Charm on himself and then pierced Hermione with his gaze, "You are not leaving my side." The determination in his words didn't leave any room for disagreement.

Hermione conceded, squeezing his hand and dragging him through the misty manor.

They began searching for Harry and Theo, dodging electric beams and casting curses to dissolve the Forgottens' limbs.

The manor rooms echoed with shouting, screeching, and explosions. All the inhabitants of the castle were fighting, defending their home. The Marauders, Lily, Snape and Tonks stood together in a line, keeping each other safe from the hungry mouths of the monsters. Behind them fought Dumbledore, Harry, Fred and Theo.

Hermione saw them just as Harry dodged an attack that was aimed right at his heart.

Draco and Hermione quickly joined in the battle, casting Blasting Curses and destroying many monsters with them.

Although everybody was in danger, it seemed the Forgottens' efforts were focussed on Theo, Draco, and Harry. Lily and James quickly led a manoeuvre to surround the three new guests and most of all to protect their son.

The battle went on all day and although the manor guests were highly outnumbered they managed to fend off the siege. By nightfall the corridors and the rooms were clear and the survivors were gathered in the drawing room.

"This attack was planned by one of us." Snape looked down his nose at everybody suspiciously. Realizing the confused looks on everybody's faces Snape explained with his usual bored and monotone voice, "The Forgottens don't have a mind of their own. Someone used them to get to whatever stone you three have been stupid enough to bring along." Snape's eyes pierced through Theo, who was blushing and looked guilty of flaunting the news all over the place.

"I think it's time you go back where you came from," Dumbledore suggested.

"It is true then? You are alive my son?" James hugged Harry tightly and then he flinched, putting one hand on his shoulder and extending his arm to look into his son's eyes, the other hand on his chest. "Your heart is beating. I can't believe I haven't felt it before!"

"You really should go," Lily stated sadly.

The ivory stone, that had always been safely tucked in Draco's trousers pocket, felt suddenly very heavy. He followed Hermione and the group of people that were marching toward the veil, a concerned frown on his forehead. If the person that planned the attack was still among them he wasn't sure it was a good idea to let everybody tag along.

The stone arch was standing tall against the green sky, the veil swaying slightly.

Saying goodbye was never easy but it had to be done.

Harry hugged everybody while Theo shook hands. Draco and Hermione stood aside, Hermione was unsure of what she should be doing, feeling guilty for leaving other dead people behind. Harry and Theo stepped closer to veil.

"Tell George to stop crying over me or I'll personally come back to haunt him for the rest of his life, and Poltergeist Freddy won't be easily corrupted like Peeves," Fred had a grin on his face, but he was determined to get the message through.

"How do you know he's still grieving you?" Harry asked.

Fred shrugged, sharing a conspiratorial glance with his uncles, "Twin power."

Draco wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist, gently kissing her temple, "Hermione you go first," he instructed her, putting a hand in his pocket. The magic shield had disappeared and Draco could now touch the cold stone, he immediately handed it to Hermione.

"Draco, what's wrong?" She didn't miss the concern in his eyes.

"I won't be coming with you, love."

"I don't understand," Hermione felt a sharp pain in her chest, where her heart used to beat, a sense of panic quickly taking over her, "Wait. You died to save me at the manor, didn't you?" She realized, bringing her hands to her mouth.

"You deserve your life back. And I stand by what kept me going all these years, I'll get you back." Draco was irremovable.

"You can't force me! I accepted my death long ago, Draco. You will go back!" Hermione screamed through tears.

"As much as I love these love-death tragedies. I'm afraid neither will go back, either today or ever." A cavernous voice spoke from the back of the crowd. The dark figure with the gold mask from the party stepped forward taking off his mask but leaving his hood on. A hollow skull materialized and everybody gasped.

"Death." Draco greeted bowing his head a little.

"I have to admit. I'm impressed, Draco. You really found a way to fool me and resuscitate Hermione." With a hand movement, he summoned the runic stone.

The pebble flashed a scorching light and turned to dust.

"I'm afraid nature's law won't allow me to let this happen. Some of you," and his hollow eyes turned to Harry, "Managed to fool me more than once already."

Seeing Harry shivering, Theo stepped closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

Death exploded into a creepy laughter. "No worries. I can't stop you two from going back either. I tried, but you are indeed still alive and you don't belong to me, for now. I can only hope your black stones don't work." Death commented drily and with a whoosh, the hooded figure disappeared.

"Well, it makes sense that Death was the one behind the attack, nobody else could have led the Forgotten army." Snape's eyes met a very uncomfortable Theo, he was blushing and shifting his weight from one leg to another.

Harry reached Hermione and pulled her in a bone crushing embrace. "Bye Hermione."

They both cried, holding each other tight.

"Say hi to Ron," Hermione said pulling away from him.

Draco scoffed.

Theo smirked at his jealous friend and hugged him. "I love you mate."

"Ugh, yeah. I know. Gross but me too."

They both chuckled.

"What should I say when people start looking for you?"

Draco searched the inside pocket of his jacket until he found a bundle of documents.

"Here, give this to my lawyer. All my money will go to Andromeda to use for Teddy Lupin. I already deposited a will in my Gringotts' vault. My parents will be notified in Azkaban."

Lupin and Nymphadora smiled and thanked Draco.

"They're the only relatives I have. I already reinstated Andromeda as part of the Black family so there won't be any legal issues."

After a final glance to Hermione and Draco Harry and Theo stepped through the veil, disappearing. Lily and James sighed in relief.

The crowd started descending the hill and converging toward the manor, Draco and Hermione stayed behind.

Draco pulled her close to him, breathing in the almond scent of her bushy hair.

"Because I know you, don't you dare say we are even." She whispered, nestled on his chest.

Draco gently pulled her chin up so she could face him. He gave her a crooked smirked and he met her lips in a soft kiss. With the corner of his eye, he noticed a bush of red roses next to an old crooked tombstone and, pulling Hermione by her hand, he walked to it. He picked off a rose and handed it to her.

And they existed somewhere happily ever after.


End file.
